“Bed?” he suggested when they came up for air. Charlotte’s lips were cherry red from the kisses, plump and inviting. Alex dipped his head again, closed his mouth over hers and pushed her harder against the door, unleashing a storm of sensation in her blood.
Charlotte responded immediately, pushing against Alex, turning in place and presenting her back to him. He slowly lowered the zipper of the Shoji dress, trailing moist kisses along her spine until she shrugged slightly and the confection fell to the floor. Stepping over it like it was rubbish, she glided to the king sized bed, moved the chocolate from her pillow to the side table and flipped off the light above it.
Laying back in a tantalizing barely-there cream colored bra and thong, Charlotte gave Alex a come-hither look and patted the bed beside her. He was yanking off his bowtie, jacket and ripping at the shirt-studs as he made his way to her. When his frustration grew, she assisted with the cufflinks that were suddenly more than he could handle. Then she reached for his zipper and slid it down, trailing her hand behind it to feel the hot, hard length of him.
Inhaling sharply, Alex kicked off his shoes and pants and fell on Charlotte like a starving man. They ripped at the remainder of each other’s clothing clumsily, his breath warm and moist against her ear as he told her what he wanted. His lips closed down upon hers, then he was sheathing himself in Charlotte’s moist heat with a deep sigh of satisfaction. Charlotte felt molten heat in her veins and a flood of emotions. Wrapping her arms and legs around Alex’s hard body, she clung to him. Moving slowly, inch by inch, Alex controlled the pace, keeping Charlotte painstakingly edgy and wanting, making things last for them both until they were clawing at each other in need.
Bearing down on her body, Alex drove into Charlotte, withdrawing slowly. She rose to meet his thrust, the slow rub and heat, the friction of her wrapped tight around him. His strong hands skillfully explored every inch of her skin leaving her begging with her body. Scoring her lips with his teeth, tongue delving deeply into her champagne flavored mouth, Alex pulled every response from Charlotte, who shivered with desire and insinuated her hands deep in his hair, holding his mouth to hers and drinking from it as if it gave her life. Charlotte was on fire for this man, clawing at his muscles, digging into his buttocks with her heels to pull him deeper inside her. Finally, rigid and demanding, Alex moved hard and fast into her waiting warmth, taking them both over the edge into oblivion, overpowering her with a flood of emotion.
She hugged Alex fiercely to her chest as they soothed each other in the aftermath of their lovemaking. Their mingled breaths were labored, slowing eventually as they continued to kiss and stroke each other. Charlotte’s fingers wandered over his sweaty skin, gently kneading his muscles, then sliding across his skin. She still felt impossibly filled, Alex already growing hard again. The exquisite pressure was building inside of her, causing her to crave him yet again.
Alex caught her eye in the shadowed room, his eyes questioning her. Her inviting smile provided the answer and he began to move slowly inside of her again. This time he was slow and tender. Her body softened into his hard one and she met him kiss for kiss, thrust for thrust, until he picked up the pace. His movements grew more urgent as did her desire and he quickly surged forward, demanding that her body relent. He teethed her nipples that already ached from the friction of his movements, but the sensation just toppled her over the edge as she clung to him. Alex came into her, spilling his seed as her limbs folded around him.
Charlotte longed to stay like this forever, safe from the reality of the world, locked in his arms, feeling his warmth under her fingertips and his breath fanning through her hair. His body was heavy on her but when he attempted to move away she held him fast against her, trying to hold onto the feeling as well as the man. She loved feeling small beneath his weight, sheltered from the world, hidden under the solid feel of Alex. At times like this, Charlotte believed Alex capable of whisking her away from the spiraling web of lies, away from Gil and his mounting threats.
Charlotte loosened her grip reluctantly and allowed Alex to roll to his side of the bed before following behind him to wrap herself around his back. Laying there, feeling his heartbeat under her hand, listening to his breathing slow and even into a pattern of sleep, Charlotte realized she wanted this man forever.
She loved him. She was certain of it. She wanted to care for him, be there for him and have him be there for her, always. Lying there, allowing herself to feel the love, to bask in the realization of her emotions, Charlotte knew Alex was worth fighting for. This relationship was worth fighting for.
It was time to tell Alex the truth.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Alex tossed the keys to Joe, the valet at Gibson’s, and ran inside to meet the guys. He was late for their regular Friday night out, rare for him and not because of the usual hideous traffic. He had been unable to extricate himself from yet another horrible phone call to the West Coast and he was more than ready to shake off the resulting frustration.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, sliding onto a stool and signaling for a drink from the server. “Widow Jane, light ice,” he ordered, quickly grabbing the attention of his old friends.
“Bourbon?” Alex queried. “What’s going on AJ?”
“Why does anything have to be going on?”
“Bourbon,” Randall replied, knowing the one word was self-explanatory.
“You never start with bourbon unless something bad happened,” Tyler added unnecessarily. “We all know it.”
“Just a bad business situation, a call that I had trouble ending. It’s why I am late. Just catch me up while I unwind from it.”
The others had only been there about twenty minutes before Alex joined them, so they quickly brought Alex up to speed on what he had missed. They rehashed the week: work, a few missteps that had cost them a win in last week’s hockey game, wives and girlfriends. They were just beginning to get into vacation details when Alex arrived. Alex was happy to leave business behind and talk about vacation instead. Just thinking about the ski trip helped relieve the tension between his shoulder blades.
“My dad will be at the Tahoe house as early as next week,” Randall told them. “The snow is already good, so he will head there earlier than usual. He will be chomping at the bit for some friendly competition by the time we arrive.”
“Do we want to skip Aspen then and go straight there?” Alex queried.
“You trying to get out of playing host?” Tyler ribbed Alex good-naturedly.
Aspen. Shit, will the trip still be on after I tell them everything? Will I still have a place there after this lawsuit? Maybe this is my last vacation in the house. I hadn’t thought of that. Don’t tell the guys that.
“Not at all, but I was thinking maybe we should reverse the order. The women might like a week in Aspen. The shopping alone should appeal to them, even if the slopes don’t. Not all of them are skiers after all,” Alex dropped his mask in place, hiding his thoughts from his closest friends. “I’m happy to host you, as always.”
“Sloane will not be happy if she doesn’t get some time at my place in Tahoe,” Randall rightly observed. He knew that his fiancé was wild about the house she had visited last year. It had been the fact that he owned the house that had sealed his marriage proposal and he still teased her that she was only marrying him for the house. Good thing his ego wasn’t fragile.
“Take her to see your dad,” Wyatt suggested. “I am sure Keeli would have no problem with Sloane working from there.”
“Even with the Christmas rush?” Randall asked, intrigued by the idea. “Couldn’t hurt to ask her.”
“Great idea. What do you guys think? Alex? Earth to Alex.”
“What? Oh sorry, my mind was wandering.”
“This must be some problem at work, man. C’mon, shake it off,” Tyler encouraged as he signaled for another round of drinks.
“You’re so right, I need to let it go. We could go to Randall’s right after the New Year then use Wyatt’s
plane,” Alex looked over to get a nod of approval from Wyatt, “to hop over to Aspen with the girls.”
“I love the idea,” Randall agreed. “And maybe Sloane and I can spend the holidays with my dad instead of here. Now that her mom has a boyfriend, it might be easer to get away. I hate the idea of my dad being alone over Christmas.”
“Not that he cares,” Tyler tossed, unsympathetically. “Your dad is used to being alone.”
“That is harsh, Ty,” Wyatt chided. “He has gotten used to being a widower, but that doesn’t mean he likes it.”
“Sorry, Randall, no offense meant.”
“None taken.”
“Does this mean Sloane’s mom is getting a divorce? I wouldn’t blame her,” Tyler asked.
“I know they are officially separated. I think all those affairs and jail have worn her down. Not that I blame her either,” Randall’s disdain for his future father-in-law was evident in his voice.
“You’re right about my dad, he may not care,” Randall continued, “but since my mom died, I am not sure how he really feels. He might be lonely and just not saying anything.” The men nodded their understanding and went silent for a moment, remembering the long, slow illness that had claimed Randall’s mother years earlier. His father had been chasing the best ski conditions ever since then, avoiding dealing with his grief.
“This is getting morbid,” Alex told his friends. “Back to happier topics. You’re supposed to be distracting me, remember?”
The conversation turned to the logistics of their travel, reminiscences of prior vacations and soon they were ordering another round of drinks. The Friday boys-night-out had started as a weekly ritual when they were in graduate school and although they met less frequently these days, the four men always made time to get together, have a drink or two and hash over their lives and their problems at least once a month.
“How was the honeymoon?” Tyler asked Alex about Aubrey and Adam. “They are back from Europe, right?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“You think so? Haven’t you talked to them yet?”
“I have been swamped with this business in California.”
“You know, AJ,” Wyatt began gently, “maybe if you would tell us what the hell is going on out there, we might be able to help.”
“It’s a long story. And it’s complicated,” Alex mumbled under his breath.
“We have all night,” Randall offered.
“None of us are stupid,” Wyatt added. “Just spill.”
Alex hesitated. He wanted to unburden himself and he planned to do so in the near future anyway. The men sat silently, watching the conflicting emotions cross his face but exuding no additional pressure.
“Oh, what the hell,” Alex took a deep drink, finished his bourbon and put the glass down with a thud.
“You have to promise to forgive me for everything - and I mean absolutely everything - when I am finished telling you all of this. And you have to swear not to tell anyone – and I mean anyone – until I tell you otherwise. That means Keeli, Wyatt. Or Sloane. Or Regan.”
“Why would I tell Regan?” Tyler asked defensively. “There is nothing going on between me and Regan.”
“Of course there isn’t,” the men all chorused sarcastically. “Let’s save that problem for our last round,” Randall suggested. “Okay, Alex. You’re on.”
“First, this is not really my secret to tell. I have not discussed it with my family and without their permission, I really shouldn’t be saying anything. But now that the wedding is over, I am beyond ready to let this one go.”
“Whoa,” Randall interjected, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table, “now you have me intrigued.”
“Okay,” Alex lowered his voice conspiratorially and the rest of the men leaned in over the table. “I am having problems with my father’s company. My real father, not Charles. You guys know that Charles is not my father, right?”
“Sure, we all know your father died when you were a baby,” Tyler answered for the men. “But we never knew he left you shares of a company.” The men all nodded in agreement.
“Well, that’s not completely accurate,” Alex offered shamefaced. “Not shares, and not dead. I have a father I have been keeping secret for thirty-plus years. I made a promise to my mother that I would never tell anyone, but now things are blowing up, I want to tell Charlotte everything and I am sick of keeping secrets from you guys and the rest of the world. Besides, I am pretty sure it will be public knowledge soon, whether I want it to be or not.”
“You have a father still living in California and you never told us?” Wyatt spoke for all of them, astonishment obvious in his tone. “You kept a secret this big from us – your best friends?”
“I promised my mother, Wyatt. She was embarrassed. Once she was remarried and then Aubrey was born, it became critical to her to keep up the appearance that we were a typical Lake Forest family. She wanted us to have all the advantages that Charles’s money and pedigree could give us. She was afraid of a scandal, and sadly, after all this time, she may be about to get one.”
When the men started to interrupt with questions, Alex begged them to lower their voices and to wait until he finished with the whole story. “I have been wanting to tell you all of this for ages so just let me get through it and then I will answer whatever questions I can.”
Alex took a deep breath and exhaled it loudly. “My mother grew up in California, and back in her teenage years she would sneak out of the house to hang out on the beach in Laguna. The summer between high school and college she met a surfer dude there, Zack, a Stanford drop out who was late in embracing the sixties. The guy was a complete stoner, but he was handsome and smooth talking and my mother was head over heels in love with the guy by the end of the summer.” The table was silent, Alex’s friends riveted. Alex could see that Wyatt was already piecing things together.
“Fall came. Her parents shipped her off to college and Zack followed the waves to Australia. By Christmas, it was obvious that my mom was pregnant and her family mortified. They threw her out and she had no one to turn to. My dad was still halfway around the world. He didn’t find out anything until the following summer when the baby, me I mean, was already born.” Alex stopped to sip the drink the server delivered, waiting until they were alone again to continue.
“He wanted to marry my mom, I think he really loved her and I think he was happy to raise a child with her. But my mom had been scrounging for six months by then with no help from her parents. She went home with Zack to say she was getting married, expecting them to forgive everything.”
“I gather that didn’t happen?” Tyler prompted.
“You guessed it. My mom’s family values were deep-seeded and it was easy for them to make her see things differently. Zack had been a tolerable summer romance but it seemed to them that he was lousy material for a marriage. After a few lectures from my grandparents, my mother loathed the idea of raising a baby with a man who lived chasing waves, getting high and surfing. All the things she had loved about him, she hated now – his life, his friends, his lack of ambition. She was no longer interested in marrying Zack, but she still had this baby on her hands.
“Well, you can figure out what comes next. Her family offered their help after all, making up a story about a dead husband, and shipping her off to Chicago to live with her Aunt Connie. Within a few weeks of my mom’s arrival, she met Charles, and not long after, she married him. She made a deal with Zack. She would send me West for the holidays when I was old enough to go on my own and in exchange Zack let her take me away and have Charles adopt me. Those days, my dad didn’t seem to care much one way or the other. I think my mother had hurt him badly and he gave me up without much of a fight.”
Alex stopped, feeling the loneliness and rejection afresh after all these years. “I had way too much anger. Zack didn’t stand a chance with me. We tried staying in touch with emails but cut off all visits when my mother worried that someone might find out t
he truth. I was more than happy to end the relationship. I just found it all confusing.”
“But it’s the 21st century, AJ. No one cares about shit like that anymore,” Randall spoke for them all. “We care about secrets, asshole. You are not allowed to keep secrets from us. Although, this is a doozy. So what if your father was a stoner who gave you up? I kind of like that you’re a bastard. Gives us something to lord over you at long last.” He gave Alex a gentle punch on his arm to let him know that he was teasing, but the underlying hurt and distrust was there and Alex sensed it.
“I reconnected with my dad late in high school. He influenced me a lot senior year and is a big reason why I chose Stanford when you guys went East.”
“I always wondered,” Tyler admitted.
“I just assumed they gave you the biggest scholarship or something,” Randall countered.
“Once Aubrey met Adam, keeping our past in the past was more important to my mother than ever. She was afraid that anything but a squeaky clean background might be an excuse for a U.S. Senator to prevent a wedding. I never understood why it needed to be a secret, but I love her, guys, and I love Aubrey, So I kept her secrets all these years. And believe me, it wasn’t easy. Other than immediate family, you are the only ones who know. Charlotte knows I am hiding something, but she doesn’t know what.”
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